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Alexandria : the city that changed the world / Islam Issa.

by Issa, Islam, author.

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New York : Pegasus Books, 2024.

Alexandria (Egypt) -- History.

Middle East -- History.

9781639365456 (hardcover) :

1639365451 (hardcover)

476 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly color), maps (some color) ; 24 cm

First Pegasus Books cloth edition.

The ancient era -- Alexander's dream -- Alexander's dream city -- Ptolemy the Saviour -- The Ptolemies -- Wonder of the world -- All the books in the world -- Shrine of knowledge -- Cleopatras -- Ageless Cleopatra -- Jewish hub -- St Mark the Evangelist -- Horror -- Early Christianity -- Destruction -- Hypatia -- Islamic conquest -- Umayyads and Abbasids -- Fatimids -- The Crusaders and Saladin's Ayyubids -- Mamluks and the plagued century -- Ottomans -- Napoleon -- The father of Egypt -- British invasion -- The First World War and revolution -- Cultural hub -- Cultural renaissance -- The Second World War -- The postman's son -- Epilogue.

An award-winning British-Egyptian writer presents an authoritative history of the first modern city and how it has shaped our modern world, including its role as a global capital of knowledge as well as the site of plagues and violence. A city drawn in sand. Inspired by the tales of Homer and his own ambitions of empire, Alexander the Great sketched the idea of a city onto the sparsely populated Egyptian coastline. He did not live to see Alexandria built, but his vision of a sparkling metropolis that celebrated learning and diversity was swiftly realised and still stands today. Situated on the cusp of Africa, Europe and Asia, great civilisations met in Alexandria. Together, Greeks and Egyptians, Romans and Jews created a global knowledge capital of enormous influence: the inventive collaboration of its citizens shaped modern philosophy, science, religion and more. In pitched battles, later empires, from the Arabs and Ottomans to the French and British, laid claim to the city but its independent spirit endures. In this sweeping biography of the great city, Islam Issa takes us on a journey across millennia, rich in big ideas, brutal tragedies and distinctive characters, from Cleopatra to Napoleon. From its humble origins to dizzy heights and present-day strife, Alexandria tells the gripping story of a city that has shaped our modern world.

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